


Shelter Me

by ikita



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angel Wings, Background Relationships, Fluff, M/M, Minor Castiel/Dean Winchester, Sharing a Bed, Sleepy Cuddles, Wingfic, for a sentence or two, guess what? I wrote something with barely any angst!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 10:37:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17507000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ikita/pseuds/ikita
Summary: Reaching a hand out behind him, his suspicions were confirmed when he found himself with a fistful of feathers. Wings.In which everything is the same except Gabriel is alive and the angel's wings are visible.





	1. Chapter 1

The first time Gabriel spent the night with Sam, the hunter was asleep when he felt the bed sink next to him. Gabriel had quietly made his way down the hall, opening the door to Sam’s room just enough to get through and laid across the bed without bothering to push the covers aside. Sam only awoke when he felt a gentle brush of something soft and warm against his back. He grumbled incoherently, rolling to the side to escape the touch that left him feeling ticklish. The touch followed, whatever it was, and it took Sam a second to process the fact that the whatever pressed against his back was leaning against him and had every intention to press closer each time he moved away.

Except he knew the feeling. Reaching a hand out behind him, his suspicions were confirmed when he found himself with a fistful of feathers. Wings. And much softer than he would’ve thought they’d be, considering his only source of contact with them before was from quick brushes as he walked past and the occasional protective gesture of a wing spread out in front of him. Sam seemed to be the only one Gabriel allowed to touch his wings without pulling them away and giving a sharp glare in turn. Oddly enough, the archangel was more hesitant about Cas touching his wings than Sam doing so. Despite Gabriel’s hesitation, the other angel had grown comfortable enough with the bunker’s occupants to let small touches from any of them go by unnoticed.

Opening his eyes, Sam squinted at the light that wasn’t there when he fell asleep. He rolled to the side to face the angel he knew was lying next to him, finding the source of the light there. A soft glow―almost golden―radiated from the wings pressed against him. Sam let out a laugh at the sight in front of him, the sound muffled by the pillow his face was buried in.

Gabriel sprawled against the remaining part of the mattress, lying on his stomach. One arm was slipped under a pillow, holding it in place. Sam could just barely see the angel’s other arm serving as a headrest, rendering the pillow useless. His face itself was hidden by a mess of ruffled hair; Sam had never seen the archangel look so human.

That was, the pair of golden wings ignored. The humanly appearance was thrown out the window with those still visible. Though even the wings matched the disheveled appearance, feathers rustled and one wing draped over the edge of the bed, primaries brushing along the floor. The other folded over, serving as a partial blanket for Gabriel as the rest of it pressed against Sam, having too little room to be placed comfortably. The hunter had seen the way Gabriel’s wings dragged along the floor when he walked, how they seemed oversized for the archangel and his rather small vessel. Unsurprisingly, they were far too large for the bed as well, even if Sam hadn’t been taking up half of it.

Without waiting for acknowledgment of his waking from Gabriel, Sam reached out to grab the wing pressing against his side, allowing it to rest across him. The wing itself wasn’t as heavy as expected, still providing a warm pressure without becoming overbearing.

The touch dragged Gabriel out of his daze as he lifted his head from his arm towards Sam. “Sorry,” he mumbled sleepily. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s fine,” Sam pulled the wing back as Gabriel tried to move it. “Like it, ‘s warm.” He ran his hands through the feathers, adjusted the ones out of place. He found they weren’t all golden, the coverts had shades of brown while the primaries faded out to an off-colored white. Gabriel hummed in pleasure at the ministrations.

“Hey, kiddo?” Sam responded with a grunt, focus still on mapping out every color in Gabriel’s wings. “Mind if I stay here tonight?”

Without stopping to think, Sam responded. “No, not at all.” He considered offering up the comforter to Gabriel before realizing the angel was already practically buried in his own wings, which would be a problem fitting under a blanket themself. Gabriel seemed perfectly satisfied how he was, ruffling his feathers as he readjusted in the slightest before resting his head on his arm again and closing his eyes.

“Night, Sam.” The hunter barely heard the words, the angel’s face covered by his arm. His expression softened as he watched Gabriel’s breath slow steadily as he drifted to sleep.

“G’night.”

* * *

 Sam woke up the next morning to find Gabriel already awake, now clutching the pillow as if his life depended on it. Both wings were extended further, burying both himself and Sam under them and Gabriel was facing Sam, his eyes glued on the taller man. Sam met his gaze, willing himself to speak before the situation became tense.

“Sleep well?”

Gabriel nodded and Sam began to see that the angel’s eyes seemed distant, that perhaps his mind was elsewhere. He ran a hand along the top of the wing closest to him, attempting to draw the angel’s attention. It was successful. Gabriel jolted back into the present, eyes brightening.

“Spaced out, sorry,” he blinked, adjusting. “What was that?”

“How’d you sleep?” Sam continued to rub the archangel’s wings, encouraged by the press of the wing closer to him.

“Fine, once I got here. You?”   

“Good.” It didn’t seem necessary to mention the mild overheating from both the blankets and Gabriel’s wing resting on top of him.

He considered whether it was worth mentioning the question that had been nagging him upon Gabriel coming into his room up until now. Deciding that he was already fairly certain he knew the answer, he asked anyways. “Was it nightmares?”

Gabriel tilted his head as much as he could while lying on his side, tucked against a pillow. “What?”

“Last night, you came here for a reason. Was it nightmares?”

“Oh,” the angel relaxed against the mattress again. “Not-” he averted his eyes, watching the ceiling as he contemplated. Sam noticed how he grabbed at the pillow as well. “Not exactly. I couldn’t sleep, mostly my thoughts.”

“You wanna talk about it?” Sam offered.

“No, not really. It’s not you, I don’t think I’m ready. That’s all.”

As if he was scared to respond as he did, Gabriel began to pull away, wings shifting closer to himself. Sam let him while still keeping his hand close enough to rest reassuringly along the top edge. “It’s alright, glad you got some rest.”

“Me too”

Perhaps more would’ve been said had the door not been thrown open to reveal Dean standing in the hallway holding up a newspaper article. “I’ve got us a case.”  



	2. Chapter 2

The second time Gabriel spent the night with Sam, it was Sam himself making the decision for the two of them to share a bed. Dean’s case had been quick, a simple salt-n-burn but not without its complications. Gabriel had remained at the bunker, rarely getting involved with cases. When Sam, Dean, and Cas returned a few days later they found the archangel asleep in the library, an opened book on vengeful spirits as his pillow.

Dean headed towards his room and Sam and Cas exchanged a quick glance, deciding that Sam would be the one to bring Gabriel to his bed while Cas walked in a direction suspiciously similar to the path towards Dean’s room.

The library’s lights were dimmed as if the angel had intended to be up all night reading before he fell asleep. The chair he was sitting in was backwards so his wings wouldn’t get caught along the backrest. It made it easier for Sam to reach across Gabriel, securing one arm across his wings and back while the other held his legs.

Gabriel wasn’t heavy, but his weight was enough to drag down Sam, already exhausted from the case. He didn’t get enough sleep as it was, but an all-night stakeout ending in a confrontation with a vengeful spirit left him drained. Sam would’ve carried Gabriel back to the room he had been using if he had a little more energy and didn’t feel like collapsing on that spot. Instead, upon reaching his own room, Sam freed an arm to open his door and carried Gabriel inside. He didn’t bother with the covers knowing that it would be too complicated to maneuver himself under them without tangling Gabriel’s wings.

Getting both himself and Gabriel comfortable was a task on its own. Sam attempted not to wake Gabriel up but it was to no avail when he heard stuttering from next to him.

“Sam, that you?” Gabriel rolled out of his grip, wings flailing.

With a small laugh, Sam moved Gabriel’s wing out of his face. “Yeah. Go back to sleep, Gabe.”

Satisfied with the response Gabriel curled up against Sam’s arms, wrapping his wings around himself like a cocoon. He didn’t bother to move the archangel, sinking back into the pillow and closing his eyes instead. In all honesty, he forgot to turn the light off before he fell asleep, not that it would’ve made a difference with the glow from Gabriel’s wings being just as bright.

* * *

 When Sam awoke this time, Gabriel was still fast asleep, wings rising and falling in small motions with his breath. His arm was starting to become numb from the angel still lying across it, but he found he didn’t mind if it meant that Gabriel was closer.

As much as he wished he could rest in bed until Gabriel woke up as well, there were things to be done. He managed to slide his arm out from the other’s body and stood out of bed. Sam much preferred to research in the bunker’s library over the desk he set up in his room; he had access to all the book easily outside of his room. He didn’t need those though, all he intended to do was search for a new case and his laptop was all that was necessary for that.

So he decided to stay in his room, taking a seat at his desk and opening his laptop. If his chair faced slightly towards the bed it was definitely unintentional. His desire to keep an eye on the sleeping angel had no influence on that, no way. And yet Sam couldn’t help looking away from the laptop screen and towards Gabriel after every article he read.

There was something peaceful about the way he slept, how, even with his wings pulled close, he allowed himself the vulnerability he lacked when he was awake. Eyes closed, legs sprawled across the covers, he was finally letting himself go in a way that Sam hadn’t seen before. It was nice, watching Gabriel’s wings shift, feathers fluffed up.

Sam continued his routine, reading up on any strange death he came across with the occasional break to check on Gabriel. He read through reports from at least 10 states, all seeming more likely the result of a freak accident, or angry spouse, or serial killer rather than what he was looking for before the archangel sleeping on his bed began to stir.

“Morning, sleepy,” Sam called out to him and he saw Gabriel push himself up from the corner of his eye.

“Hey,” Gabriel grumbled, rubbing his eyes before smoothing down his feathers. “What are you doing awake.”

“It’s almost noon, I let you sleep in.”

“Oh,” Gabriel pushed himself off the bed, trudging over to the desk and propping himself on the surface left uncovered. “Thanks. Whatcha’ looking at?”

“Cases,” Sam replied, opening a new tab of incident reports.

The archangel huffed in protest. “Take a day off every so often, won’t you?”

Catching Gabriel’s wrist as he tried to close the laptop, Sam countered, “Is that what you were doing last night?”

“Huh?”

“That book you fell asleep on last night? It was on vengeful spirits.” Gabriel raised his eyebrows as if to say _and?_ “Why the hell would you need to read up on anything involving vengeful spirits?”

“Right, that.” The angel laughed tensely. “Cas gave me updates, told me you were up against a vengeful spirit. I’m not a hunter, Samsquatch. I know the basics but I wanted to find out more in case y’know…”

The pointed look Gabriel gave him told all.

“You were worried.”

“Maybe just a little.”

“Gabriel,” Sam’s shoulders shrugged. “I’ve been hunting since I was a kid, you don’t have to worry about a small case like that. And you definitely don’t have to overwork yourself until you pass out on the table because of a case like that.”

It took a moment for Gabriel to respond, the angel looking down at where Sam still held his wrist. “I guess I just care a lot,” he said almost too quiet to hear.

Hearing it aloud was different from everything Gabriel had done to show that he cared. Sure, the angel had thrown his wings in front of Sam for protection many times before. He checked the library before he went to sleep every night to make sure Sam wasn’t still awake. Sometimes, when Sam tensed up from stress and memories taking control, he would feel the brush of feathers along his back embracing him, a silent comfort. None of that compared to the words spoken.

Hand still clutching Gabriel’s wrist, he pulled the angel off of the table and onto the chair with him, letting him rest on his lap. Sam ran a hand through Gabriel’s wings, stroking the golden feathers and listening as Gabriel let out murmurs of encouragement while leaning his head on Sam’s shoulder.

“I care about you too.”

  



	3. Chapter 3

There was a third time, and a fourth and fifth. It wasn’t long before Sam stopped keeping count. And it wasn't long before he abandoned blankets altogether as well; Gabriel’s wings provided enough warmth on their own and were softer anyway. Besides, he would much rather fall asleep with a wing thrown across him, knowing Gabriel was right there next to him. He could wake up in the morning, comb his fingers through the feathers, and feel his archangel nuzzle closer as he stirred.

It didn’t take long for Cas and Dean to pick up on it either, the two were less oblivious when it came to others’ relationships. Out of them both, Dean was the shocked one. Sam suspected that Gabriel and Cas were more open to each other than the other pair of brothers about feelings.

Sam and Gabriel’s relationship, or whatever they decided to call it, wasn’t something either of them wanted to bring up willingly. But leave it to Dean to continue to walk into Sam’s room without knocking. Finding the archangel curled up against Sam’s side one too many times, he was able to put the pieces together. When he asked Sam, in the exact wording of ‘So, you and Gabriel? You two a thing?’, Sam didn't hesitate to answer yes. What other way was there to describe the growing affection between him and the archangel he was reminded of every morning?

And perhaps not too many mornings later, after a rough night of nightmares and tears, Sam pulled Gabriel close. With a grumble in complaint and a slight shove as he tried to break free from the grip on his arms to collapse into the pillows again, the angel eventually gave in to Sam’s embrace, remembering the way the hunter held him in the night when Gabriel’s dreams of sewn lips and stolen grace became too much. Wings wrapped tightly around Sam, he rested his head on the taller man’s chest.

“Thank you, for what you did last night. You didn’t need to stay up but―” Gabriel tilted his head up. “I appreciate it.”  

Sam leaned down, pressing a quick kiss to the top of Gabriel’s head while he massaged the joint where wing and back met. And before he could process it, the archangel’s hands were grabbing his face pulling him down to brush his lips with his own. When Gabriel let go he was grinning at Sam, a smile that matched the gleam in his eyes.  

“Kiss me properly next time,” and Sam was pulled into another kiss.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


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